The Los Angeles International Textile Show had a busy vibe as it kicked off on Wednesday with scads of textile booths located on the 7th, 12th and 13th floors of the California Market Center as well as in the fashion theater and the basement...

Tuesday, September 29

It was a veritable who’s who of Los Angeles design—and swimwear, in particular—when swimwear designer Rod Beattie opened his stunning mid-century home to celebrate his birthday. Legendary swimwear designer Anne Cole was in attendance, as well as swim designer Anna Kenney, swimwear...

Content trade show will take a bow in Portand on Oct. 18 “It is a platform for the independent fashion designer as artist,” said Content co-organizer Anna Korte. The key is wider exposure. The designers will be placed in a good gallery when it...

Just in time for Halloween, Hips Curves, the Los Angeles-based Web site that sells plus-size lingerie and other accoutrements, has relaunched its online presence to add a new line of mix-and-match Halloween outfits. Think sexy costumes that include a...

Monday, September 28

The creative minds behind Kill City and Brian Lichtenberg collide for a new collaborative effort aptly called Brian Lichtenberg for Kill City. To celebrate the partnership, a launch party will be thrown at the Kill City store at 7975 Melrose...

Sunday, September 27

Forty years after founding The Gap, Don Fisher died on Sept. 27 at the age of 81. The company said he died “after a long and heroic battle with cancer.”Fisher and his wife, Doris, started the company in 1969 as a single store in...

Miami-based Perry Ellis International signed two licensing agreements for its Janzten and ProPlayer brands. The Janzen deal is with MAG Brands LLC/Millennium Apparel Group, which will produce girls’ swimwear, boardsho...

Retailers are responding to the recession by keeping inventories lean, renegotiating their leases, and using technology to boost efficiency and maintain cash flow. That was the word from New York–based...

Julian R. Geiger, chief executive officer of Aeropostale Inc., resigned from the New York–based retail chain. He will leave at the end of the fiscal year. Geiger has been CEO of Aeropostale since 1996, and he ...

Looking for increased efficiency, control, and integration in your company’s operations? The right apparel-specific technology system can help facilitate high function and save time and money. These te...

World Industries—a Costa Mesa, Calif.–based skate hardgoods, T-shirt and footwear brand—has announced the debut of a mobile warehouse program. Centered around two custom vans equipped with mobile office...

Retailers look to trim every cost of business from their leases to their lighting, but one crucial cost that is increasingly under the microscope is processing fees charged by credit card companies an...

Designer Carol Malony and Ashlee Simpson-WentzAll those bedroom accessories and unmentionables usually kept hidden behind closed doors and talked about in hushed whispers are showcased in grand display at Coco De Mer. On Wednesday night, the luxury erotic boutique gave top billing to...

Somebody’s had some work done! FashionWeekLA.com, the fashion week calendar site run by Jen Uner, founder of the L.A. Fashion Awards, unveiled a whole new look this week. The redesign by EMC2Web.com includes a whole host of...

Thursday, September 24

Attention woodland creatures: Watch out!Rocky Hunting, a maker of camouflage hunting apparel, has created a line of "tri-season" hunting garments imbued with all sorts of technology that will make life that much harder for deer and other...

Judith Leiber Disco Ball minaudiereYou’ve seen Judith Leiber jewelry on many a red carpet. Now the New York-based jeweler and accessories designer hopes many fashion-savvy people will see the new Judith Leiber boutique. It’s located at 220 N. Rodeo Drive in...

The latest cycle of America’s Next Top Model, featuring all petite models, has upped the celebrity factor with recent guest judges, which included reality TV star cum designer Lauren Conrad and It model Chanel Iman.On the Sept. 23...

Heels, tan, highlights required. Photo of The Real Housewives of Orange County, courtesy of BravoTV.comLos Angeles-based Royal Plush has partnered in a licensing deal with Bravo Media to develop a co-branded line of apparel “inspired by the fashion and style of ’The Real...

Vans' new Heritage store in Long BeachVans has a long history of showing up on the feet of skaters and surfers, and the brand showed off some of that concrete-shredding past when it opened one of its handful of "Heritage" shops recently in Long...

A 42-hour countrywide curfew imposed after deposed President Manuel Zelaya was secretly ushered back into Honduras on Sept. 21 forced factories in the country’s apparel hub to send workers home and shu...

San Francisco–based denim giant Levi Strauss & Co. opened a 151,000-square-foot product depot near its distribution center in Hebron, Ky., which has been in operation since 1999. The new space is used for receivin...

U.S. customs inspectors at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have begun to pore over apparel and textile imports coming in from Asia, trying to determine if the goods are undervalued or misclass...

New York–based designer Narciso Rodriguez will launch a capsule collection for sale exclusively on online auction site eBay. Narciso Rodriguez for eBay will include eight pieces in a color palette of r...

The L.A. International Textile Show and Material World & Technology Solutions, two powerhouse trade events for the textile industry and fashion supply chain, will co-locate for the first time Sept. 30–Oct....

Levi's is celebrating the 75th anniversary of the launch of its women's jeans. Introduced in September 1934, Levi's "Lady Levi's Jeans" were the first jeans made for women. Before that, if women wanted to wear jeans they had to snag a pair from the guys. According to Levi's, the line was developed for Western women who hadbegun wearing men’s Levi’s jeans on ranches and farms, and for women towear to a popular new vacation destination – dude ranches....

Wednesday, September 16

Producers of the ASR fashion show took a stroll through the record store aisles—or in this digital era, the iTunes store plus some songs I recognized from Rock Band—for inspiration this season. The “Fashionably Loud” runway...

Tuesday, September 15

What do apparel manufacturers do when they have a lot of inventory sitting around their warehouses with no place to go?They call Jimmy Tung, the chief executive of The Warehouse Sale in Burbank, Calif., who has been conducting fire sales for clothing makers...

Dane Williams memorial at last year's ASR showA man was arrested and charged with the murder of Dane Chandler Williams, the 23-year-old Hurley intern who disappeared in January 2008 after attending a party at the Action Sports Retailer...

Bryden Lando adds an artistic touch to an HX surfboard. There is the idyllic Hawaiian resort paradise that you see in postcards and then there is the Hawaii inhabited by locals with a mischievous territorial bite. Or as Bryden Lando puts it on an HX graphic tee stamped with...

Monday, September 14

The latest cycle of Tyra Banks' America's Next Top Model—this go around exclusively enlisting models who stand 5 feet, 7 inches and under—debuted its premiere last week.During the first round of auditions to see which contestants...

A sweater and cardigan handloomed for Jason Wu by PDR Knitting (Photo courtesy of Style.com)PDR Knitting, a Los Angeles-based boutique knitter, has been making sweaters for a variety of brands since its launch three years ago. Now, the company, headed by Evita...

Sunday, September 13

Photo courtesy of Elle.comOur friends at Elle.com singled out this New York Fashion Week attendee’s chic street style in its Street Chic feature on the Elle blog. I’m wondering if her top is by Raquel Allegra, the Los Angeles...

Friday, September 11

San Francisco–based online shoe retailer Piperlime, a division of Gap Inc., expanded its offerings to include apparel from 65 brands, including Marc by Marc Jacobs, 7 For All Mankind, Joie, J Brand, Juicy Cout...

The reviews are in, and they’re pretty good. Project Global Trade Show, the contemporary show that draws the who’s who of Las Vegas buyers, is earning kudos for its brand mix and general vitality. Approximate...

Shoppers at Marc by Marc JacobsThe Fashion's Night Out party extended its way from the bash at Fred Segal/Ron Robinson Melrose down to the 8400 block of Melrose Ave., just east of La Cienega. Max Co., Hervé Léger and...

Many retailers in Los Angeles’ Studio City neighborhood will be closed for repairs after a 62-inch water main burst near the intersection of Coldwater Canyon Avenue and Dickens Street, flooding the sur...

Ron Robinson, left, in action at Fashion's Night OutFashion’s Night Out Sept. 10 at Fred Segal Center felt like a festive block party where the whole neighborhood came to have a ball. Musicians played on the sidewalks outside the celebrated boutique...

Los Angeles–based T-shirt manufacturer and retailer American Apparel will open a new store in the Valley Fair Mall in San Jose. Located next to a Gap store, the nearly 5,500-square-foot American Apparel store will be the company...

File this one under nutty but true. The House of Ungaro has named Los Angeles actress Lindsay Lohan as its artistic director. She will be working with newly appointed chief designer Estrella Archs. Ar...

New York–based Komar Co. has struck a licensing deal with Iselin, N.J.–based Maidenform Brands Inc. Under the agreement, Komar has the exclusive right and license to manufacture, market, sell and distribute women’s and children...

Thursday, September 10

Audrey Tautou in "Coco Before Chanel"It’s September 2009 and it must be the month of the fashion film. Vogue magazine documentary "The September Issue" opened this month, and on Sept. 9, a select Los...

Apparel marketers should pay heed to the story of Three Wolf Moon, which is quickly becoming Internet legend and a keen example of how effective viral marketing can be.It got started a few weeks ago when Rutgers...

These short takes on Swim 2010 feature the latest styles and innovations from designers, manufacturers, and fabric, fiber and component suppliers. From feminine and flirty to athletic and trendy to retro and rock...

Wednesday, September 9

Rolling: Los Angeles-based tokidoki will open a Melrose Avenue boutique where it will sell fashion with whimsical graphics such as its collaboration with Marvel Comics, pictured above.Business is getting serious for tokidoki, a whimsically named Los Angeles...

“Costume, headdress or mask required.” Those are the invite instructions for Santa Monica Museum of Art’s Halla Gala fundraiser event on Halloween which encourages guests to dress up as their “secret self—your inner persona or alternate identity.”...

Tuesday, September 8

Photo courtesy of billabong.comBillabong is set to hit the big screen with the world premiere of its latest surf flick, "Still Filthy." It's all part of the action in San Diego as the surf and skate scene converge for the Sept. 10 to 12 run...

High-profile fashion buyer Randy Brewer announced he left influential San Francisco fashion boutique chain Villains on Sept. 4. He led buying and managed the three-boutique chain for 12 years.Brewer left after Villains owner David...

Pictured: Designer Louis Verdad and Olga Garay, executive director of the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.A panel of designers and retailers recently reviewed the applicants for the Emerging Designers show to select who will...

Faire Frou Frou lingerie on Ventura Blvd. in Studio City after most of the water has drained out of the store. A 62-inch water main burst at the intersection near Coldwater Canyon Avenue and Dickens Street in Studio City at 10:40 on Saturday night,...

Saturday, September 5

Weiland for English Laundry, photo courtesy of Torry MorganFashion and rock n’ roll go hand in hand. And for Scott Weiland – a clothing line seems to be the perfect venture. The frontman for the Stone Temple Pilots is known for his often flamboyant on-stage style. Weiland kicked off the launch of his new line, Weiland for English Laundry, with a performance at the Hard Rock...

Perry Ellis International has inked a licensing deal with Pierre Cardin to source, sell and distribute men’s sportswear in the United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The five-year deal...

Surface-trade shipments among the three North American Free Trade Agreement member countries—Canada, Mexico and the United States—were down 31.5 percent in June compared with the same period last year, ...

J. James Gordon, one of the first investors in Liz Claiborne Inc. and a member of the company’s board of directors until 2003, died on Aug. 25 after a long illness. He was 78. Gordon, who started his o...

LAS VEGAS—The aisles were crowded at many of the apparel, accessories and sourcing trade shows in Las Vegas, where many designers and sales reps reported landing some welcome orders from retailers whos...

WORD ON THE STREET: Rumors that the Project Global Trade Show will move from the Sands Expo back to the Mandalay Bay circulated througout the many trade shows in Las Vegas.We’re just back from the apparel and sourcing trade shows in Las Vegas, and the rumor circulating the halls and aisles is that the Project Global Trade Show, which just relocated from the Mandalay Bay Convention Center to...

Relaxing at Robertson: Ted Baker's casual Born line at the label's Robertson boutiqueIs it the start of Casual Fridays at UK label Ted Baker?The label, best known for its traditional suits and shirts with an irreverent twist, recently debuted...

Thursday, September 3

Ezekiel, the Irvine, Calif.-based surf/skate brand, and the Active Ride chain of stores have partnered to launch "Needle Thread," a design competition for six graduates of the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. The six young...

CRUISE SHOP: The Oasis of the Seas boasts 16 decks, 2,700 staterooms and space for 5,400 guests, as well as a spa and fitness center, pool and sports area.Royal Caribbean International’s latest ship, the Oasis of the Seas, will set sail at the...

A look from Planet Blue's new private-label line, Black LabelPlanet Blue has taken the creation of the shop's bohemian beach girl look into its own hands. The retailer announced that it has launched a private-label line named Black Label. The private label...

Tuesday, September 1

LAS VEGAS—The MAGIC Marketplace kicked off on Aug. 31 with a good start for many exhibitors, particularly those showing in WWDMAGIC, Premium at MAGIC, S.L.A.T.E. at MAGIC, Ecollection and Pooltradeshow.

For the longest time, the New York-based label Phi has been a tough commodity to find in northern California.But that changes on Sept. 2 when a Phi pop-up store materializes inside the Carrots boutique in San Francisco.The new store within a store will launch...